Air-gun projectiles

ABSTRACT

An airgun projectile. A conventional airgun slug having a forward nose portion and a skirt portion flaring outwardly and rearwardly from a reduced diameter central portion is placed within the cylindrical bore of an impact-yielding cap. The cap has a circular front wall end and a rearwardly extending cylindrical skirt. The cap skirt is snugly received over the slug nose portion, and the external diameter of the cap skirt is substantially equal to the diameter of the slug skirt at its widest joint. Disposed within a hollow defined by the slug nose, cap front wall, and cap skirt is an indicator comprising a flash producing powder and Amorce mixture, and/or a solvent-based paint.

ited States Patent Hall AIR-GUN PROJECTILES Ronald Gibson Hall, 34 Leverstock Green Road, I-Iemel I-Iempstead, England Sept. 23, 1969 Inventor:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

Int. Cl ..F42b ll/l8, F42b 1 1/24 Field of Search ..273/106 E; 102/92.7, 87, l M

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1903 Schou 102/87 1/1915 Dickinson. ..102/87 ll/l928 Lewis .273/106 E UX 11/1964 Batou ..l02/92.7 UX

3,649, Mar. 14, 1972 Primary Examiner--Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Shapiro Attorney-Woodhams, Blanchard and Flynn [5 7] ABSTRACT An airgun projectile. A conventional airgun slug having a forward nose portion and a skirt portion flaring outwardly and rearwardly from a reduced diameter central portion is placed within the cylindrical bore of an impact-yielding cap. The cap has a circular front wall end and a rearwardly extending cylindrical skirt. The cap skirt is snugly received over the slug nose portion, and the external diameter of the cap skirt is substantially equal to the diameter of the slug skirt at its widest joint. Disposed within a hollow defined by the slug nose, cap front wall, and cap skirt is an indicator comprising a flash producing powder and Amorce mixture, and/or a solvent-based paint.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures I Patented March 14, 1972 //V//././!/ME v mmw 67550 will fiw w/ w AIR-GUN PROJECTILES The present invention relates to projectiles to be fired from airguns such as air-rifles or air-pistols.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an airgun projectile which will produce a visible indication of its point of impact on hitting a target and which is of simple and cheap construction. The visible indication may be temporary, for example a bright flash or a more permanent mark on the target, this mark being preferably readily erasable.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an airgun projectile comprising an airgun slug, a body of impact-indicator material and impact-yielding encapsulating means encapsulating the said body with the slug and being adapted to release the said material on impact of the projectile with a target.

The impact-indicator material may be a flash powder containing powdered magnesium or aluminum, in which case the projectile is provided with impact-ignition means for the powder, or it may be a solvent-based paint or ink which forms a lasting but readily erasable mark. Such a mark may be produced pyro-technically by the flash powder in the case where flash powder forms the impact-indicator material.

Conveniently the impact-indicator material is encapsulated in a cap having a skirt engaged over the nose of a conventional slug, the external diameter of the cap skirt being not greater than that of the slug skirt.

The cap may be made of synthetic plastics material such as polythene in which case its skirt is a tight fit on the nose of the slug. The cap may be secured to the slug by a suitable adhesive for the material of the cap.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which each figure shows an airgun projectile in axial section, the projectile shown in FIG. 1 serving on impact to produce a flash, that in FIG. 2 a mark and that in FIG. 3 both a flash and a mark.

Referring to FIG. 1, the airgun projectile shown comprises a standard airgun pellet or slug 1 having a nose 2 and a skirt 3 which is of larger diameter than the .nose 2 to ensure a good seal against the barrel wall when the pellet is fired.

A synthetic plastics cap 4, in this case polythene, although any other appropriate material may be used, has a cylindrical skirt 5 and a front end wall 6. The skirt 5 is engaged over the pellet nose 2, the external diameter of the skirt 5 being then slightly less than the maximum diameter of the pellet skirt 3.

The cap 5 contains a layer of amorce composition 7 against the inner surface of the front wall 6 and a body of flashproducing material 8, the body 8 being separated from the amorce composition 7 by a thin layer of varnish 9.

In manufacturing the projectile, a small amount of amorce composition which may consist of potassium chlorate and red phosphorus mixed with sufficient water to render the composition safe to handle is introduced into the cap and deposited on the wall 6. The composition 7 is allowed to dry and is then sprayed with varnish 9. After the varnish 9 has dried, a measured amount of the flash-producing material 8 is introduced into the cap. A suitable flash-producing material consists of a mixture of a metal powder and an oxidizing agent, in this example magnesium powder and potassium chlorate, or perchlorate. Finally the nose of the pellet l is pushed into the skirt 5 of the cap as a tight fit thereby sealing the flash-producing material 8 in the cap.

In use, the projectile is fired from any airgun in the same manner as when using conventional projectiles. When the projectile hits a target, the impact sets off the amorce composition 7 which in turn ignites the flash-producing material 8 thereby spreading the cap 4 (by tearing it in the case of polythene or shattering it if the cap is made of a more brittle material). Accordingly, the burning flash-producing material 8 spreads sideways producing a bright flash.

The projectile shown in FIG. 2 is similar to that shown in FIG. 1 in that it also comprises a slug 1 and a cap 4. In this case, however, the interior of the cap is filled with a body of spirit-based paint 11 of any desired color.

When the projectile shown in FIG. 2 strikes a target, the momentum of the slug 1 drives the nose of the slug into the body of paint thereby spreading or fracturing the cap 4 so that the paint 11 is ejected onto the target.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is essentially a combination of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in that the cap 4, in addition to containing an amorce layer 7, a body of magnesium powder 8 and a layer of varnish 9 separating the layers 7 and 8', also contains a body 11 of spirit-based paint. The paint 11' is separated from the magnesium powder 8' by a paper disc 12 which is treated so as to render it impervious to the spirit-based paint.

When the projectile shown in FIG. 3 strikes a target, a bright flash is produced and also a more permanent mark is left on the target in the form of a small area of paint 11 which dries very quickly but can easily be wiped off with a rag soaked in solvent, in this case alcohol. In order to produce a brighter flash or larger area of permanent mark, the axial length of the cap 4 may be increased to accommodate the necessary extra material in either of the bodies 8' or 11.

In both of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the body of paint 11 or 1 l is sealed by the engagement of the cap skirt 5 on the nose 2 of the slug. Where an adhesive is used to join the cap skirt 5 to the slug nose 2, this adhesive must of course be resistant to the paint solvent and will then act as an additional seal.

A suitable screen may be formed by sheet steel to which is applied by an Aerocoat process a dry mixture of pigment, epoxy resin and hardener all in powder form. The sheet is then baked at a sufficiently high temperature to fuse and cure the powder mixture.

The projectiles may be used in conjunction with the Target Practice Apparatus described in the copending application Ser. No. 860,593 of Thomas Mitchell Bennett of the same date.

Obviously numerous changes may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claim.

Iclaim: 1. An airgun projectile, comprising: an airgun slug having a nose portion at the leading end thereof and a hollow skirt portion at the trailing end thereof, said skirt portion flaring to an intermediate reduceddiameter portion inwardly from its trailing end;

an impact-yielding cylindrical cap having a front end wall and a cylindrical skirt, said slug nose portion being snugly received within said cap skirt and spaced rearwardly from said front end wall, said cap skirt having an external diameter substantially equal to the maximum external diameter of the hollow skirt portion of said slug;

said cylindrical cap skirt having a trailing edge surrounding said slug at a location disposed between the nose portion and the skirt portion thereof with said trailing edge being out of contact with and axially spaced from the skirt portion of said slug to permit relative axial movement between the slug and the cap when said projectile strikes a target; body of impact-indicator material encapsulated in said cap between said front end wall and said slug nose portion; and

said slug including annular wall means of reduced diameter disposed intermediate said nose portion and said skirt portion for causing the full momentum of the slug itself to be applied directly to the impact-indicator material upon impact of said cap of said projectile against a target to cause said indicator material to be discharged laterally over a substantial area, said annular wall means having a diameter at least slightly less than the internal diameter of the trailing edge of said cap skirt and extending axially rearwardly from said trailing edge for a substantial distance to prevent the momentum of said slug from being applied directly to said cap.

2. An air-gun projectile according to claim 1, in which said impact-indicator material is a flash-producing powder coniained in said cap and said cap includes Impact-sensitive ignition means for said flash powder.

5. An air-gun projectile according to claim 2 and including a further body of impact-indicator material in said cap, said further body comprising solvent-based paint.

l. An air-gun projectile according to claim 3 including a separator layer separating said paint from said flash-producing powder 5. An air-gun pro ectile according to claim 2. in which the 

1. An airgun projectile, comprising: an airgun slug having a nose portion at the leading end thereof and a hollow skirt portion at the trailing end thereof, said skirt portion flaring to an intermediate reduced diameter portion inwardly from its trailing end; an impact-yielding cylindrical cap having a fRont end wall and a cylindrical skirt, said slug nose portion being snugly received within said cap skirt and spaced rearwardly from said front end wall, said cap skirt having an external diameter substantially equal to the maximum external diameter of the hollow skirt portion of said slug; said cylindrical cap skirt having a trailing edge surrounding said slug at a location disposed between the nose portion and the skirt portion thereof with said trailing edge being out of contact with and axially spaced from the skirt portion of said slug to permit relative axial movement between the slug and the cap when said projectile strikes a target; a body of impact-indicator material encapsulated in said cap between said front end wall and said slug nose portion; and said slug including annular wall means of reduced diameter disposed intermediate said nose portion and said skirt portion for causing the full momentum of the slug itself to be applied directly to the impact-indicator material upon impact of said cap of said projectile against a target to cause said indicator material to be discharged laterally over a substantial area, said annular wall means having a diameter at least slightly less than the internal diameter of the trailing edge of said cap skirt and extending axially rearwardly from said trailing edge for a substantial distance to prevent the momentum of said slug from being applied directly to said cap.
 2. An airgun projectile according to claim 1, in which said impact-indicator material is a flash-producing powder contained in said cap and said cap includes impact-sensitive ignition means for said flash powder.
 3. An airgun projectile according to claim 2 and including a further body of impact-indicator material in said cap, said further body comprising solvent-based paint.
 4. An airgun projectile according to claim 3, including a separator layer separating said paint from said flash-producing powder.
 5. An airgun projectile according to claim 2, in which the impact-sensitive ignition means comprises a layer of amorce mixture against the end wall of said cap and said amorce layer is separated from said flash-producing powder by a layer of varnish.
 6. An airgun projectile according to claim 1, in which said impact-indicator material is a solvent-based paint.
 7. An airgun projectile according to claim 6, in which said solvent is alcohol. 